Pianoforte
by Psychometry
Summary: Oneshot. Maki likes to let her stress out by playing the piano alone after school. But when she's interrupted by a certain strange ginger, her peaceful days come to an end.


**Don't ask me what this is. I have no idea. I was bored over the last few days, so I just kind of threw it together. Don't expect anything special.**

**Though, as always, enjoy. _ipromiseimworkingonmusingsofthedeadandshardsofsunshinestill_**

* * *

Fingers brushed over piano keys, striking notes with purpose, with passion. A flood of notes that rang throughout he otherwise empty classroom, laying the backdrop for the play presented by the words that flowed forth from the singing redhead. To Maki, these words came naturally. They were just her feelings after all, any lingering regrets she had about anything, any anger, any happiness, any desires, she shaped them into song and sung her heart out. And today was no different as she sang a lonely song, a heart that ached, a heart that desired something it didn't deserve.

Her eyes stayed firmly closed the entire performance. It helped her to drift off into her own little world, letting her hands play out melodies like a well-oiled machine, calculated movements born from thousands of hours of practice, thousands of hours of pouring her heart out over a piano. The keys felt right under her fingers, she knew her feelings could flow freely from her fingertips to those keys, leaving her chest feeling just a bit lighter, her mind a bit clearer.

"… and look forward…" Maki relaxed, finally letting her fingers drop from the keys to rest in her lap. Amethyst eyes opened to stare down at the keys in front of her and she nodded to herself, content with the song. "How long have I been here?" She looked around the empty music room and, as her eyes drifted over the door, she locked eyes with somebody. "Eh?"

The first thought that came to her mind was that it was probably just somebody looking for the light music club which was held in the new music room. But then the realization smacked her that this girl had just seen her playing and Maki had no idea how long she had been there. Her face heated up in embarrassment. The girl outside the room just titled her head in an unspoken question. It was hard to make out all of her features, but Maki definitely saw short ginger hair and blue orbs staring back at her. After recovering from the initial shock of the girl, she moved to stand up, to go tell the girl to shoo, but as if sensing her hostility, the strange girl was gone by the time she was at the door.

Maki slid it open anyways and looked around but there was nothing but empty halls. She glanced at her phone and shook her head. It was probably high time for her to get home. Besides, after having someone listen in on her private time, she really didn't want to linger around the school any longer. The music room was somewhere she felt secure, a place where she could express herself without any worry of what others might think of her. A sinking feeling in her stomach told her that her peaceful times were coming to an end.

On her way out, she saw no sign of the ginger who had spotted her which somewhat relived her. Confrontation was one of the last things she wanted but if that girl showed up again, she might have no choice.

_Why am I putting so much thought into this? She probably just got curious because she heard me playing. It's not like this is the first time this kind of thing has happened. It happened those other two time and those girls never came back to peek in again, so why would it be any different this time?_

It was different. Definitely different. The next day, after school had let out, Maki drifted towards the music room and immediately went to the piano. After the test she had taken less than an hour ago, she was ready to burn some stress off and there was nothing better for that than the piano. Her hands lowered to rest on the keys, and she could feel a smile tugging at her lips. That's right, piano would always be there for her. As long as she had the piano, that was all she needed. Well, she would keep telling herself that even though she knew she wanted much more than to sit alone in the music room everyday playing out her feelings.

As she finished her second song, she reached for a bottle of water she had brought to soothe her dry throat, but she almost spit out the water as her eyes once again met a pair of blue orbs watching her from outside the door. "W-Wha…!?" Maki almost choke on the water and found herself in a coughing fit. After recovering, she turned a glare on the door but there was nobody there. She angrily marched over, throwing the door open and glancing both ways. But, just like the day before, there was no ginger with blue eyes for her to complain about.

_What the hell!? If you have something to say to me then say it. Otherwise, leave me alone! I don't need this kind of stuff._

Maki shook her head and grabbed the bottle and her bag. The second encounter with the ginger has killed her mood and now she wanted nothing more than to go home and district herself. She noted to herself to quickly get up the next time she saw that girl. What made her think staring at somebody like that is okay? It's definitely creepy. And that was the second time she had been thrown out of her concentration by the girl.

_Next time! I swear, next time I'll say something!_

Next time which, as she had thought it might be but hoped it wouldn't be, was the next day, came way too soon for the redhead. This whole situation made her want to just play her heart out and that was exactly what she intended to do when she arrived at the music room that day. She pretended to close her eyes like usual as she played but she kept stealing stealthy glances at the door, waiting to see her.

And sure enough, not thirty minutes into her piano time, the ginger walked straight up to the door and stared at her through it. It surprised Maki a bit that she was being so obvious, she wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was there again. But Maki was ready this time and she jumped out of the chair to run over to the door. She found herself surprised again as the girl made no attempt to run away but rather just stood there and looked at her, tilting her head in confusion.

Maki looked the girl up and down. Judging from the colour of her ribbon, she was a second year. Just like she had seen through the door, orange hair fell to just below her shoulders, not even in some areas, and bright blue eyes watched her curiously. The girl remained silent and Maki eventually snapped out of her observations and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you want? Why do you keep coming here?" No answer, just another head tilt. That made her a little angry, but she tried her best not to show it. "If you're not going to say anything, then go away!" She showed it and she was sure it came out as harsher than she meant, but this girl was starting to get on her nerves. Hell, the girl wouldn't even reply to her! Just as she was about to start a string of complaints that would get any girl to avoid her, she stopped, looking at the girl curiously. Specifically, at her eyes. Maki thought something was strange about them, but she couldn't quite think of a word to describe them. She pondered this while also waiting for some kind of reaction from the girl which she didn't get. "Hello? Earth to whoever. Can't you hear?"

_Oh_. A good word suddenly popped into Maki's head, a perfect description of those eyes, but that word unsettled her. The ginger seemed to snap out of whatever trance-like state she was in because she slowly nodded and began to turn away before turning back quickly.

"Your music… is really beautiful." A low voice, so low that she could have missed it if they weren't in an empty hallway, devoid of emotion, empty, reached her ears. Despite the way it sounded, Maki felt her cheeks flushing at the comment and she struggled for a response, but the ginger was already turning around and walking away. Maki stared at her back as she left, mulling over the word that she had used to describe the look in the girl's eyes, thinking that that word could probably apply to her tone as well.

Dead. Those eyes definitely looked dead.

* * *

"Maki-chan!" Oh, right. Maki sometimes forgot that she did have 'friends.' Though she would usually say she doesn't have any if asked, the eccentric ginger running over to her desk and calling her name would insist that they were friends. Along with the brunette following behind her. "Good morning, Maki-chan!" Rin called out upon reaching her, slamming her hands down onto the desk to make sure she had the redhead's undivided attention.

Rin's loud voice was enough to instantly snap Maki out of her daydreaming and her eyes snapped to the girl angrily. But they softened immediately, and she turned away and gave her own, "Good morning, Rin, Hanayo."

"Good morning, Maki." Hanayo smiled at the response she hadn't even expected Rin to receive. Sometimes Maki did just outright ignore them if she was in a sour mood. But that didn't stop Rin from pestering her until she couldn't ignore them, and she would be forced to leave the classroom for a bit if she wanted any alone time.

Maki was starting to drift back into her thoughts before Rin's voice snapped her out of them again. "Well, Maki-chan?"

"Eh? What?"

"I said that you've been spacing out a lot lately. Is something wrong? You can always talk to me and Kayo-chin, you know! Right, Kayo-chin?" Rin looked to the third girl who just nodded shyly. A brief smile found its way to the redhead's lips, but she quickly wiped it away and looked forward, letting a slight sigh escape her mouth.

There was only one thing bothering her enough for her to be showing it so openly and she knew what that was. Then again, she didn't know if the girl was really trouble or anything or why she was bothering her in the first place. Maybe it would be a good idea to talk to Rin and Hanayo about it, she figured. Maybe they might know something about the mysterious ginger who liked her music. So, she explained the girl as best as she could, leaving out the bit about her eyes looking dead for the ginger's sake. That probably wasn't the kind of comment you wanted floating around the school and Maki sure as hell wouldn't be the one to start spreading that.

"Hmm, I don't think I've seen anybody like that, nya~" Rin had a finger to chin, deep in thought. Hanayo, on the other hand, was fidgeting nervously, trying not to look at the girl. Maki narrowed her eyes and called out to her, making the brunette jump.

"What's up, Hanayo? Do you know her or something?"

"E-Eh? Um… I-It's not like I know her… but…" Hanayo came in closer, leaning between her two friends and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I've never spoken to her before but… there are a lot of rumors around the second years about her. And they've been floating around us first years as well lately. They're pretty… b-bad rumors too…" She looked a little pale as she spoke but Rin and Maki both looked at her expectantly. Hanayo swallowed before continuing. "I-I heard a rumor… that she killed her best friends."

If the metaphor of people's jaws hitting the ground could come true, Maki and Rin would have crushed the floor beneath them. Especially Maki whose head was now swirling with thoughts. What was she supposed to make of that? But well, they were just rumors, right? There's no way they could be true. Everybody liked to gossip. Maki tried to keep that in mind, but it didn't stop the news from shaking her. How was she supposed to face that girl the next time she stopped by? Could she just ask her? 'Hey, I heard that you killed your best friends. Is that true?' Maki mentally facepalmed at the thought.

"T-There's no way that could be true, right?" _Fuck_. Maki really wanted to sound convincing, but she couldn't even convince herself with that. What was she supposed to think of that though? The girl she met recently had rumors about killing her best friends? _This makes things a whole lot more complicated…_

Later that day, Maki peeked into the music room before entering as if expecting the ginger to be there. Nobody was there, of course. She let out a long sigh as she settled onto the bench to start her playing. After all, the best way to get those new feelings out was to let her fingers play them into a melody. And this was one rough melody, one that let out the newfound fear and nervousness she found within her. Even though she let herself play out those feelings, they only resurfaced when the girl never showed up that day.

* * *

Maki pondered what exactly she was feeling as she walked through the halls. It was Friday so if the girl didn't come to watch her that day, she would have to wait until Monday to see her again. For some reason, that unsettled her. Did she really want to confront her about the best friends thing so badly? No, she definitely didn't want to talk about that at all but talking about it was the only way she could get her answers. After all, from anybody else they were just rumors. She needed to heart the truth from the source itself. Unfortunately for her, the source was a creepy silent girl who apparently just enjoyed watching her play the piano.

That feeling stayed with her all day and she eventually identified it as fear. But fear of what? For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't scared of that girl. After thinking about it for most of the night, she had no doubt in her mind that the girl didn't kill her best friends… well, maybe there was a little doubt, but she tried her best to push that away.

No, this fear was something else. Maki paused as she reached the door to the music room, her hand positioned to slide it open but faltering. Was she afraid that the girl wasn't going to come again? Why was she afraid of that? Because she wanted answers? No. The answers could come later for all she cared. But then why?

"Ugh…" Maki mumbled as a realization hit her in the face. The look in the girl's eyes, the rumors floating around her, the soft-spoken monotone voice… Maki was worried about her. What if she was being bullied by people in the school and that's why those rumors started? What if that look in her eyes was a sign of that as well? For some reason, she felt too many worries about this girl that she barely knew… no, she really didn't know her at all. Hell, she didn't even know her name yet!

She swung the door open and sauntered in, determined to once again attempt to play all of those feelings out of her heart. After all, what else could she do? For Nishikino Maki, the piano was her saving grace. And she intended to use it as such. The next two hours straight she poured out uncertain feelings, every single one of them. At some point, she lost track of which songs she played. Sometimes she played classic songs, other times her own original songs. It felt nice to make something herself, it felt personal and real. Hearing her feelings played out in something she made herself was the thing that kept drawing her back to music.

After a while of playing, she felt significantly better and decided to take rest, mulling over her situation. Well, her "situation," she thought. What even was this? A stalker? A fan? She shook her head and pressed a key of the piano softly listening to the lonely note ring out through the room. Maki frowned at herself. There was no reason to get this worked up over something that shouldn't even be problem for her. As she was thinking of how to resolve this "problem" of hers, her eyes drifted to the door, part of her hoping to see blue orbs staring back at her so she could get this over with.

Though blue eyes didn't greet her, she thought she saw a flash of something. Ginger hair? Maki stood so fast that she almost knocked the piano bench over, and she sprinted towards the door, throwing it open as fast as she could and looking both ways. But there was no curious ginger waiting outside the room. "Oh great, now I'm seeing things…" Maki grumbled and decided that it was probably time for her to pack up and leave. She felt more tired than anything at that point and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep in the next day.

She turned back and grabbed her bag before beginning her walk towards the exit. Maki mumbled her concerns under her breath as she walked, hoping that that would somehow make those concerns fly away. She was so distracted by her thoughts and mumbling that she didn't notice the sound of footsteps around the corner she was turning and _bam_! Maki walked into something that was moving in her direction, the two colliding and the redhead felt a sharp pain in her bottom as it came into contact with the floor. "Ow! Hey, watch where you're going!" Maki instinctually snapped at the person, but she regretted it immediately when she saw the ginger on the ground in front of her.

She got no response from the girl who just stood up and down at her. After a minute of a silent staring contest, Maki realized she was still on the ground and blushed before quickly standing up and dusting herself off. "S-Sorry." She mumbled but it probably didn't sound very convincing after what she had said before. The ginger blinked a few times before doing that head tilt that seemed to be her default when she was curious about something. Just as Maki was mulling over something to ask, definitely not something about the death of her best friends, she heard that soft monotone voice.

"Are you… done playing today?" Maki's eyes immediately locked onto those blue orbs. Had she really not seen her there before? But she had been on her way to see Maki play. For some reason, that kind of made her feel bad. She felt herself grip her own her and rub it awkwardly, trying to wipe that feeling away.

"I uh, yeah. I just wasn't feeling up to a long session today."

"I see." There was another bout of silence before the ginger turned away.

"Ah!" Maki called out but coughed when the girl turned around to face her. Even if she couldn't ask about that particular situation, she thought she should at least find out the one thing. "Your name. You still haven't told me. I'm Nishikino Maki. If you're going to keep stopping by, you should at least tell me your name."

The ginger seemed to seriously mull this over as if the notion of introducing herself was absurd. Maki awkwardly looked into those dead blue orbs that now looked troubled. The silence felt like it was trying to drag Maki away, but she stood her ground. Should she say something? Was it really that big of a deal for Maki to know her name? She shuffled uncomfortably, but the ginger finally came out of her mulling and met Maki's eyes again.

"Kousaka… Honoka…" For just a brief second, Maki swore she saw a flash of something in those eyes. It was so brief that she would have missed it if she wasn't staring into those blue orbs. Honoka must have thought Maki was waiting for her to say something else because she shuffled awkwardly and looked away which finally broke Maki out of her trance. She noted that she would have to stop looking into those eyes because they really felt like they were trying to drag her in to that crystal-clear blue ocean… She shook her head and let out a sigh. _What's wrong with me?_

"That's… a nice name." Maki awkwardly said the first thing that came to mind and mentally slapped herself. Honoka's eyes immediately locked back onto hers and her mouth opened as if to say something but closed without anything coming out. _Great job, Maki. Who the fuck says that?_ She could already feel the silence starting to thicken and she knew she had to say something. Either she had to drive this girl away or accept that she was curious about her. She swallowed her nervousness and prepared to say… something, she hadn't really figured out what yet, to the girl. But she saw that something again in those eyes, in those dead eyes that should creep her out. But she felt drawn in again with that something. She wanted to see it in those eyes again. Her brain-to-mouth filter briefly turned itself off. "Do you uh, want to listen to a song?"

This time she definitely saw it. A flash of life in those dead eyes, a flash of… hope? Maki watched in amazement as those dead eyes opened wide at the unexpected proposition. Though she didn't open her mouth to answer, Honoka nodded quickly and Maki couldn't help the smile forming on her lips, so she turned away, twirling some hair around one finger. They silently walked back to the music room and Maki sat down at the piano, running her fingers over the keys before glancing to the ginger.

Honoka had pulled up a chair and was staring intensely at the redhead, waiting for her hands to start playing out her feelings. Maki had expected to be creeped out when she was confronted with those dead eyes again, but she wasn't. She mulled over her thoughts from earlier about Honoka possibly being bullied because of some terrible rumor. Maybe she just felt bad for the girl, she realized. That's why she was letting her sit in her and listen in. Maki nodded to herself. That could be the only reason, of course.

No letting the girl wait longer, she slowly began her playing, letting her fingers drift from key to key, playing out the feelings of letting the girl watch her. The music was nervous, hesitant, but serious. Notes bounced off the walls in a soft melody that rose and fell, wandering about the room in confusion, settling in the ears of the ginger who sucked in her breath.

Maki easily fell into her own little world, even with the ginger there. She played out her nerves over the keys, letting them speak her mind for her. Whether those notes reached the other girl or not didn't matter to her in that moment. This was all about her, all about lightening the load on her chest, discarding all of her negative feelings. And it worked wonders, it was almost as if the piano sucked the feelings out through her fingers and threw them against the walls of the room. Those walls fell down around her, fading from her thoughts. It was only her and the piano. And that was all she needed, she thought.

After what felt like hours, she finally let that song fade away, dragging her back into the real world where she was made aware of those worries of before. Her eyes glanced to the side to see the ginger staring with wide eyes, mouth open. Maki tried not to turn fully towards her as she finally took her fingers off the keys, letting her hands rest in her lap while waiting for a reaction. Honoka finally snapped back to attention, pulled out of the dream world that the music had dragged her into and slowly clapped. Maki felt heat rising to her cheeks, but she accepted the praise. It's not like anybody else was going to hear her and praise her anyways so she might as well accept it this one time.

Maki cleared her throat. "So, do you like music?"

"… Huh?" Maki flinched as she saw what little light she believed to be lurking in those eyes fade away, the utterly dead look returning though it had never truly left.

"Well, you keep coming here to listen to me play, right? So, you must like music, right? What kind do you like to listen to?" God, the conversation felt so awkward for the redhead. How was she supposed to speak with a girl who was incapable of forming a sentence consisting or more than a few words? And that was if she even decided to speak in the first place. Honoka, in what Maki was now convinced was her signature 'no idea what's going on' action, tilted her head in confusion.

Maki sighed and closed the cover over the keys before standing. Without speaking, Honoka continued to stare at her, the redhead getting the uncomfortable feeling that those orbs were piercing right through her.

"I…" Soft and monotone. Would her voice ever not sound like that? Maki sure hoped so. "I don't really… listen to music." Talk about a delayed response, but Maki just nodded instead of pointing that out.

"Then why come here? I don't think my piano is anything special. In fact—" The redhead's next words caught in her throat when she the ginger grabbed her sleeve, Maki's head snapping her direction. This time, she saw it clearly and it set her heart racing. Instead of dead orbs, oceans of vibrant blue stared back at her, desperate, almost terrified. Honoka's mouth opened to speak and Maki could see her lips quivering but the ginger set herself, her eyes never leaving the redhead's, and Maki unable to escape those blue orbs that seemed to have their own gravitational pull.

"Don't say that!" It wasn't exactly a yell, but it was as close to one as Maki had heard from the girl. "Your music… is really beautiful! I… I like it a lot!"

That finally freed Maki from her new prison in those blue eyes and her face flushed as she looked away, thinking of some tsundere remark but her brain had melted briefly, leaving her silent. Honoka released her sleeve and took a step back, looking down as if she did something bad. It wasn't like that at all, but Maki found it hard to say that.

"Thank you… for playing for me." With that Honoka started towards the door and Maki felt like a weight was dropped in her stomach. _Say something. Say something, idiot!_

"Ah, um…" Maki conquered her internal struggle, forcing at least enough words out to cause the ginger to turn back to her. This time she actually considered her situation before speaking. Yes, she was curious about this girl. Yes, she wanted to make sure she was alright. Yes, she wanted to see those eyes lit up again. All considered, she nodded to herself. "If uh… if you want to stop by again… I'm here every day. So, if you're ever bored or something, just knock and come in. You don't need to stand outside if you want to listen."

No matter how much time would pass, Maki would never be sure of what she saw that day. Though she wasn't looking into those alluring blue orbs, she kept the ginger in her sight. And she could swear that the for the briefest second, a small smile replaced the apathetic look. It was so brief that she would have missed it if she wasn't paying such close attention to her. Apparently swearing another oath of silence, Honoka decided to not respond verbally but just nodded before turning and leaving. The door slid closed and Maki was left with her thoughts. Well, if she could hear those thoughts, it would definitely be nice. Her heart hammering against her chest filled her hearing in the otherwise silent room.

Her thoughts drifted back to her initial reason for wanting to contact her. Even though that had been the most they've spoken, Maki failed to ask about the rumors. Maybe it was better that way for now though, she thought. There would be plenty of opportunities to do so in the future.

Even so… that went nothing like what she expected. How did she go from wanting to confront her about the rumors to inviting her to come watch her play piano every day? Maki ran her hand along the piano and sighed. Her peaceful days seemed to be coming to an end.

* * *

The rest of Friday, Maki had felt lethargic, her curiosity wanting to speak to Honoka gain, but she had no way of contacting her outside of school. That was something she noted to resolve later. When she woke up on Saturday, she wasn't much better. After giving it a good amount of consideration, she decided it was the perfect day to spend inside and sleep. Her texts to Hanayo and Rin said as much but that only led to the two of them showing up at her house and dragging her out for a "cheer up Maki" day as Rin described it.

All that really entailed was them dragging her along for shopping and lunch. At first, she was opposed to it, but once they were out, Maki was grateful for the distraction. That was, until they sat down for lunch and Rin began her interrogation.

"So?" Rin asked, sparkles in her eyes as she stared down her redhead friend.

"So…?"

"Are you going to tell us why you're so grouchy, Maki-chan? It has to do with that weird girl, right?" Hanayo tried to quiet their friend down before the inevitable explosion, but to her surprise, Maki just sighed and plopped her head down into her hands, eyes drifting between her two friends. "Maki-chan?"

Maki visibly cringed at the idea of talking to them about it. And did she really even need advice in the first place? Honoka would be coming to watch her practice and she could go from there. Hell, Hanayo's talk about rumors got all those weird feelings about the ginger in Maki's head to begin with. But she relented under Rin's excited gaze as she bounced up and down, drawing strange looks from the other café customers.

"I don't really know." Maki admitted. "I'm worried about Honoka."

"Honoka? You're on a first name basis, nya~?" That earned the cat-like girl an elbow from the brunette.

"Shut it. Anyways, I'm worried about her. After hearing the rumor you talked about before… I'm afraid that's the reason she's so… reserved." Maki struggled to not say 'dead,' but managed to swallow that back and get out a less… offensive adjective. "I don't think she killed anybody. I don't get that kind of feeling from her. I think she's just a normal girl who wants friends. But because of those rumors or whatever, she can't. Maybe I'm wrong on all of this, but either way… I'm just worried is all."

Her two friends smiled between themselves and hugged the redhead who had would normally have an endless string of complaints. She let it pass this one time. It seemed like there were a lot of "one time" things she was letting pass lately.

"Well, if Maki says so, it's probably true." Hanayo nods to herself, feeling more than a little sheepish for bringing up the rumors in the first place. She wasn't usually a gossip but it just kind of came out when Maki mentioned the girl. As if reading her mind, Maki spoke up.

"I'm not angry at you or anything for telling me about them. In fact, I'm grateful. It at least gave me some kind of idea why she's like that. I guess I'll try prying a bit on Monday… maybe."

"Oh~ what's this? Does Maki-chan have a date with Honoka?" Sometimes Rin pissed her off beyond belief and this was definitely one of those times. The last thing she needed on top of her own worries and these newfound worries about the ginger was her friend's teasing. Rin seemed to pick up on this as she slid back in her seat with an apologetic look. Maki leaned on one hand, staring out the front of the café, wondering how the hell she would even begin to bring up the ginger's problems.

"Well, just go for it, Maki-chan!"

* * *

Maki settled onto the bench and ran her fingers over the piano keys. She was the only one in the room and, even though she knew the ginger was coming, she was grateful for a little bit of time alone. A few deep breaths later and she played out a short first song, no more than thirty seconds of her letting out the anxiety from her upcoming encounter. It worked wonders and by the time the knock on the door came, she felt a lot better.

"Come in." The door slowly slid open to reveal the ginger, eyes as dead as ever, Maki noted, her bag in hand. With her usual silence that Maki wasn't surprised by anymore, she pulled up the chair and sat down, waiting patiently for the redhead to begin. Before she did any 'confronting,' she decided to play some, to at least lighten the atmosphere.

Without a greeting, without exchanging a single word, she started to play. She wondered if Honoka could tell her feelings through the music. A slow piece that built in intensity. Her anxiety, her fear of the girl's response, her relief that the ginger had even come, her confusion about how she should feel about that girl. Everything poured out of her with no restraints. What should have been a three or four minute piece turned into twenty minutes of nonstop playing, The mood of the song changed so rapidly that Maki hated it. She hated her confusion. She hated all those feelings swirling around inside her.

Honoka said nothing during the entirety. Maki was too focused to look her way until her hands finally settled, the final note still ringing in the empty room. Finally, she let her eyes drift to the ginger, trying to gauge some kind of reaction. Well, she tried, at least. Honoka's blank stare told her absolutely nothing. Did she like it or not? Was she disappointed? It frustrated the redhead to not know.

Without saying anything, Honoka stood up and walked out, not even turning back when Maki called out to her. Something heavy dropped in Maki's chest and she couldn't bring herself to stand from the piano bench. What did she do? Did she upset the ginger somehow? That was exactly the opposite of what she meant to do. Should she have chosen an actual happy song instead of spilling her negative feelings out? Maybe she had creeped her out. Maki ran her hand through her hair in frustration and banged her hand onto the keys, a few discordant notes ringing out.

The urge to play had left with Honoka so she stood and got ready to leave herself. She peeked out into the hallway before stepping out, hoping to see the ginger waiting there. But she was nowhere to be found. With a sigh of defeat, Maki decided that she would wait until tomorrow to see what was up… hopefully.

* * *

Honoka didn't come the next day which only led Maki to beating herself up more over the situation. Though she still didn't know how, she knew she had screwed up. But what was she supposed to do? She had no idea how to act around this mysterious girl.

Her eyes snapped up in hope to the door when it started sliding open, but they immediately turned to disappointed when Rin waved at her from the open door. Definitely not the ginger she was hoping to see. Hanayo shyly followed behind her, looking around as if expecting them to be kicked out at any second.

"Hm? No strange girl today, Maki-chan?" Maki's eyes immediately looked down at the floor. Even Rin seemed to pick up on how down she was. She sat on the piano bench next to the redhad, forcing her to make room and wrapped one arm around Maki's shoulders. "What's wrong, Maki-chan? You can tell me and Kayo-chin." Hanayo nodded fervently, taking her energetic friend's lead and squeezing against Maki on the other side of the piano bench. Despite herself, Maki couldn't help a smile from forming, but it was short-lived.

"I think I screwed up. But… I'm not really sure how. Honoka didn't come today. And yesterday she left without saying anything." Even Maki herself was surprised by the tone of her voice. It sounded desperate, sad. Why was she so disappointed that the ginger hadn't come? Did it really matter? She hadn't even known the girl for that long. "Why do I even feel this way!?" She suddenly yelled, letting her feelings spill out verbally for some reason. Both of her friends jumped at the outburst, but Rin burst out laughing, drawing a glare from Maki.

"That's for you to figure out, Maki-chan!" Rin said, hugging her friend. "I'm sure Honoka is just getting used to you. Maybe she's just nervous. Why don't you wait for her? Do you really think she won't come back?"

Maki just shrugged. She really didn't know with that girl. At the least, she _hoped_ that she would come back but knowing that she was hoping for that made her frustrated. Everything had been so confusing since meeting Honoka and she hated that. She wanted everything to make sense, for everything to be easy. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently.

"Thank you." Maki said suddenly, making her two friends jump a bit in surprise. "I… needed this. So, thanks."

"Maki-chan!" "Maki!"

Despite her thanks, she would complain endlessly about the hugs she received afterwards.

* * *

Wednesday. It felt odd not seeing the ginger for over twenty-four hours in the middle of the week. It really shouldn't feel odd since it's not like Honoka had visited enough for it to even be considered a regular thing at that point.

After an hour of infrequent playing, she let out a long sigh. Playing hadn't felt right yesterday and it didn't feel right today either. Sleep was the only thing that granted her a break from her thoughts so she decided that maybe going home and turning in early would be the best thing to do. At least, that was her plan. Just as she stood, the door to the room slid open hard, Maki's attention snapping to it. She really had to stop that or her neck would start hurting.

Honoka stood in the doorway, sweat dripping down her face, her breathing labored. Dead eyes stared into Maki's, the ginger swallowing down large gulps of air before finally straightening herself and walking in. Only when she was nearby did Maki realize she was clutching a notebook tightly to her chest as if someone was trying to steal it from her. In typical Honoka fashion, she said nothing, but opened the notebook and flipped through it until she found the page she was looking for. She turned the notebook around and presented it to the redhead.

Maki looked between her and the notebook before hesitantly taking it. As soon as the book left her hands, Honoka grabbed her usual chair and brought it forward, sitting and staring at the pianist. Maki looked down at the messy handwriting. Words filled the page, some crossed out, some practically illegible notes scribbled outside the margins, small arrows pointing from the comments to various parts of the page. It dawned on her finally what she was looking at.

"Are these… lyrics?"

Honoka nodded quickly before speaking in her quiet voice. "For your song."

"My song?"

The ginger rummaged around in her bag before producing sheet music. Maki looked over it for a bit, her eyes widening in shock. She barely remembered the melody she had played that day. It was so chaotic and terrible that she had shoved it away. Besides, like most of her music, it was just something she played once on the fly. She had never planned on playing it again. But she stared at the sheet music in her hands. It was messy, but she could tell it was her music. Her eyes drifted back up to the ginger who was looking at her expectantly… well as expectantly as a person with a blank stare can look.

"I uh… I don't know what to say. You don't listen to music, but you know how to write it?" Honoka mumbled something quietly, prompting a, "What?" from Maki.

"I learned how to… yesterday."

Maki let that process for a second before jumping out of her seat and looking between the sheets and the ginger. "Y-You… learned how to do this in one day? And more importantly, you remember the music well enough to transcribe it?" Honoka just titled her head and gave a slight nod. _No way… How did she…?_ Maki just shook her head, trying to make sense of the situation. "Is this why you didn't come yesterday?"

Another slight nod. "It was taking longer than I thought… so I skipped school."

"Your parents just let you skip school to write music?"

"I told them it was for a friend… and they let me."

Just what kind of parents let their daughter… wait… friend… friends… Wasn't there something about friends that she was supposed to ask the girl? That's right! In the face of the music presented to her, Maki had completely forgotten about asking her about the rumors. Then again, after the scare from yesterday, she felt more nervous than ever asking her. She glanced into those blue eyes as if searching for approval for her unasked question. Honoka stared at her for a few seconds before sighing.

"You… think they're true too, don't you?"

"Eh?" Of course, Maki already knew what she was talking about but what the hell? Had she just read her mind or something? Something heavy dropped in her stomach and she stumbled over a few words but didn't manage to get anything out. Would the ginger just walk out? Would she never see her again like she had feared yesterday? Eventually she collected herself enough to mutter, "I'm sorry… It's not that I think they're true! It's just… I just heard them recently…" She was definitely not ready for this conversation no matter how much she had thought about it.

Honoka stood and Maki almost reached over to grab her, afraid that she was going to leave. But Honoka walked up to the chalkboard and picked up a small leftover from who-knows-how-long-ago piece of chalk and scribbled what Maki quickly realized were two names. One consisted of two kanji and the other written in hiragana. Umi, Kotori. Honoka didn't move for a few second and the redhead couldn't see her face from her position but still felt uneasy.

When she turned around to face Maki again with her blank stare, she opened her mouth to say something, but paused, mulling over her words. Every second that she wasn't speaking was another second that Maki felt her anxiety boiling over. She was beginning to worry more that she would be the one to run out rather than the ginger. As her thoughts began formulating where she would run to, the soft voice spoke again.

"In middle school… my two best friends died." Maki found it hard to keep staring into those blank eyes with those words, but she swallowed and nodded slowly. "We… We were coming back… from a trip. The three of us and Kotori's mom. But… on the way back…" The redhead noticed Honoka was tightening her grip on the chalk, those blue eyes looking down now. "They both… died in a car accident... I was… the only one who survived."

"Honoka…" What was she supposed to say? Before she could try to come up with condolences, Honoka continued.

"At first... the rumors weren't bad. I think they… were just kids being kids. But… they spread and spread… and followed me to high school. So…" Honoka finally lightened her grip, letting the chalk fall to the floor. To Maki, that sound echoed much louder in the brief heavy silence than it should have. "I didn't… kill them. I…!" Honoka's voice suddenly raised and when she looked up, Maki sucked air in. Those blue eyes were filled with tears that overflowed down red cheeks. The blank stare was replaced with a look of panic, desperation. The change was so extreme, it blew the redhead away, her heart skipping several beats. "I want you to believe me! I don't want you to ignore me! Maki!"

The silence that followed could definitely kill somebody. That's what Maki thought. Only seconds passed, but her mind raced along with her heart. Honoka didn't kill anybody. She already believed that but the confirmation from the girl definitely lightened her heart. At the same time, the look the girl gave her made her heart slam into her ribcage with how fast it was beating. Ignore her? How could she? Ever since she had met this ginger, she had been at the forefront of Maki's thoughts every day.

Words failed her as she tried to speak up. What could she say? No, it wasn't an issue of not having anything to say, it was that she just had so much to say. Emotions were running higher than ever and she was afraid if she didn't speak or do something, Honoka would take that the wrong way and leave. If she left after something like this, this would definitely be the last time Maki would ever see her. And that thought made her chest ache.

"_Well, just go for it, Maki-chan!"_

Rin's voice echoed in her head and she believe this might be the only time in her life that she actually took the ginger's advice. Rin loved to just jump into things without thinking about it and Maki always hated that way of thinking. But, now, she thought maybe that might just be exactly what would help her. In the few seconds she took to think she saw the ginger twitch slightly and the fear of Honoka running away came back to her mind. It was now or never.

For once in her life, Maki let her instincts take over. In a flash, she took several quick steps forward, her destination the ginger. When she reached her, she tightly wrapped the girl in a hug, pulling Honoka against her. Nothing had felt better in her life than the sudden warmth she felt in that moment. Honoka's breath hitched as she tried to register what was happening. In addition to her own heartbeat, Maki could feel the ginger's own quickening heart from their close proximity. She took a deep breath and whispered into the girl's ear.

"It's okay. I won't leave you alone." Maki was definitely sure about it now. Everything felt like it fell into place all at once. All those confusing feelings were suddenly identified. Everything made sense. And now that she knew how she felt, she wouldn't leave Honoka alone. She felt her shoulder getting wet, probably from the ginger's tears and felt Honoka's arms wrap around her. Soft sobs reached her ears, the girl's body shaking in her arms. Maki gently stroked the ginger's hair, continuing to whisper quiet assurances. Even though she had already accepted it, she still shook her head.

_How did I fall in love with this girl?_

* * *

After Honoka calmed down, she sat back down in her chair, Maki on the piano bench, looking over the lyrics and sheet music.

"To be honest, these lyrics need improvement. And the music I played that day… was pretty bad." Honoka looked up, tilting her head. Whether for better or worse, her blank stare had returned as if nothing had happened. "We can readjust the lyrics together. I'll work on composing a new piece that fits the lyrics once we're done. From what we have so far, it looks like it'll be a relatively calm piece. I don't' think these lyrics really match with the other music at all, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"You'll… write a song with me?" Despite the low volume of the voice, Maki could make out the shock. She was glad she was picking up some kind of emotion at least.

"You don't want to? I think…" Maki instinctually moved a hand to her hair to twirl one of her red locks. "I want to… write a song with you. What about you?"

If Maki hadn't seen the next part for herself, she probably wouldn't believe it. In the short time she had known Honoka, she knew that the girl didn't show much emotion. Her face barely changed throughout any conversation… if what half of what they had could even be considered conversation. But after asking that question, she dared to look again.

Instead of dead eyes, she stared into sparkling oceans of deep blue and her heart skipped a few beats. Instead of a thin line of apathy, that mouth was curved into a gentle smile. For Honoka, that was probably as wide a smile as she could manage, Maki figured. She practically jumped off the chair and her eyes locked with Maki's.

"Mm! I'd love to!"

At that time, Maki's mind could only process two thoughts. Maybe getting interrupted every once in a while wasn't so bad after all. And…

_Mm. I can fall in love with her all over again from that smile._

* * *

**Yeah, uh... again, I was just bored. Didn't want to make this some in depth romance story or anything.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed.**

**Till next time. Be seeing you.**


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